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Edward
Edward is a blue FR K2 class mixed-traffic engine. He runs his ownbranch line with BoCo. Edward is one of the oldest engines on Sodorand is occasionally made fun of for his old age. Edward is very wise and optimistic and spreads his knowledge and encouraging attitude towards the other engines. Bio in the Railway Series Edward was built by Sharp Stewart and Company in Glasgow, Scotland in 1896 and worked on the Furness Railway before coming to Sodor in 1915 to finish the building of the North Western Railway. After his work was completed, Edward was kept in a shed, to the delight of the other engines, who claimed that he was too old and weak to work. Edward was eventually let out again and proved that what he lacked in strength, he made up for in work ethic. Edward currently runs the Wellsworth-Brendam branch line with BoCo, Bill and Ben and occasionally Donald and Douglas. He is sometimes used as a pilot engine for special trains. Persona Edward is kindhearted and always keen to help a friend in need. The small engines trust him to lend a listening ear and sympathetic advice. He is a hard worker too, and always does his best to finish a job. Sadly, the big engines often see Edward as old-fashioned and slow. While it is true he is the oldest engine on the North Western Railway - it must be noted he helped build it - he has proved time and time again that he is more than capable of working as hard as any engine, but he is a more clever and wiser engine, too. Basis The Reverend W. Awdry stated that Edward is based on a heavily modified Sharp, Stewart and Co. "Larger Seagull" K2 Class, supplied to the Furness Railway in 1896. Sodor "historian" Martin Clutterbuck notes that Edward bears a close resemblance to an LNER D3/4 "Glen" (NBR Reid Class K) 4-4-0 from the London and North Eastern Railway. At any rate, the Reverend W. Awdry used an engine of this class to represent Edward on his model railway. Visible Crovan's Gate Works modifications are: making the rear splasher flush with the cab, new cab windows as opposed to cutaways in his cab side sheets, and square cab lookouts as opposed to the original round ones. In both the Railway Series and television series, Edward is depicted with a Fowler tender. Livery Edward is painted NWR blue with the NWR red and yellow lining and the number "2" painted on his tender sides in bright yellow with a red border. In the Railway Series, he carries two builder's plates on the sides of his cab. It can be assumed that, before arriving on Sodor, Edward was painted in the Furness Railway's Indian Red livery with the letters "FR" written in yellow on his tender sides and black wheels. Inspiration The inspiration for Edward himself came from the Reverend W. Awdry's watching trains on the Great Western Railway as a child. He said in an interview with Brian Sibley for The Thomas the Tank Engine Man that, to him, the noise of the locomotives' exhaust almost sounded like dialogue - for example, the larger engine having trouble climbing the hills would appear to be saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it" and the smaller engine helping them would sound like it was saying, "I will do it! I will do it! I will do it!" Later, Reverend Awdry told his son a bedtime story about an engine who was sad because he was never taken out of the shed for being old. Upon being asked what the engine's name was by his son, the Reverend Awdry picked the name Edward out of thin air. Appearances The Railway Series * The Three Railway Engines * Thomas the Tank Engine * James the Red Engine * Troublesome Engines * Henry the Green Engine * Gordon the Big Engine * Edward the Blue Engine * Four Little Engines * The Eight Famous Engines (does not speak) * Duck and the Diesel Engine * The Twin Engines * Gallant Old Engine (does not speak) * Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine * Main Line Engines * James and the Diesel Engines (does not speak) * More About Thomas the Tank Engine (does not speak) * Thomas and the Twins * Henry and the Express (does not speak) * Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines * Thomas and Victoria * Thomas and his Friends (cameo) Television series Specials: * The Adventure Begins Voice Actors * Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails onwards) * William Hope (US; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Yasuhiro Takato (Japan; first - eighth seasons) * Nozomu Sasaki (Japan; Calling All Engines! onwards) * Øyvind Borgemoen Lyse (Norway; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Herman López (Latin America; Hero of the Rails onwards; except Tale of the Brave) * Christos Topulos (Germany) * Wojciech Chorąży (Poland; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Fabrice Trojani (France and French speaking Canada) * Petteri Hynönen (Finland; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Reinder van der Naalt (The Netherlands) * Celso Alves (Brazil; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Jordi Estupiña (Spain) * Anh Tuấn (Vietnam) Trivia * Edward was the very first character created for the Railway Series, in 1943. * In Saved from Scrap, it was revealed that Edward's driver was named Charlie. * Edward is the only engine whose crew has been named in the Railway Series. In the foreword of'"Edward the Blue Engine"' their names were given as Charlie Sand (driver) and Sidney Hever (fireman). Their surnames came from their duties (one of the driver's jobs is to sand the rails when they are slippery to let the engine's wheels grip, while the fireman "heaves" coal to the firebox); their Christian names came from an engine crew from the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. * Two of Edward's models are currently on display; one at Drayton Manor along with his happy, clenched and tired face casts, And the other is in Japan at the Hara Railway Museum (previously on display at Nitrogen Studios). * Edward was not in any known draft of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. According to Phil Fehrle , there was not enough screen time and opportunity to utilise him in a way that added any real value to the film. * According to Britt Allcroft, there was a suggestion that Edward should become female and be renamed to "Alice" in the US dub. * In Steady Eddie and Charlie and Eddie, Edward refers to himself as "Eddie". Charlie also refers to him by this name. "Eddie" also happens to be Edward's real name in the Greek narration. * In the television series, Edward went through numerous changes: ** Season 6: *** His safety valve disappeared. ** Season 10: *** The riveting on his front bufferbeam disappeared. *** His buffers were moved downward and widened in length. ** Season 12: *** The gap between his second and third red stripes on his boiler became larger. ** Hero of the Rails: *** His buffers became bigger and moved towards the centre of his bufferbeam. ** Season 17: *** He gained a lamp and tail lamp at the request of Sam Wilkinson. ** Season 18: *** His handrails were painted black. ** The Adventure Begins: *** His handrails were painted silver again. *** The inside of his tender became blue. *** His side-rods become silver. * The 2014 re-designs of Trackmaster and Take-N-Play Edward and an illustration the annual story Edward Cracks a Nut incorrectly depict him as a 2-6-0. Merchandise * ERTL (normal and Gold Rail; discontinued) * Wooden Railway (several versions) * Take Along (normal and metallic; discontinued) * My First Thomas (normal and talking) * Motor Road and Rail (normal and talking; discontinued outside Asia) * TrackMaster * Hornby * Bachmann * My Thomas Story Library (discontinued) * Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued) * Mini Die Cast Collection (normal and with Santa hat; discontinued) * Departing Now (discontinued) * Thomas Town (discontinued) * Capsule Collection * Trading Cards * Tomica * Take-n-Play (normal and talking) * De Agostini (discontinued) * Brio (discontinued) * Pez * Mega Bloks (discontinued) * Diablock * Wind-up Trains (normal, shocked face, clear, and silver) * Pocket Fantasy (discontinued) * Collectible Railway * Departing Now * Boss (with Green Express Coach; discontinued) * Micro Rubber Engines * Push Along * Minis (Classic, Metallic, Robo, Chillin' , DC Super Friends, and spooky) * Choro-Q * MV Sports (with Tidmouth Sheds; discontinued) Gallery See here Category:Steam Locomotives Category:Tender Engines Category:North Western Railway Category:The Main Line Category:Edward's Branch Line Category:4-4-0 Category:Blue Engines